Bayh has about as much appeal for being president (ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE) as a Mr. Rodgers.

The man is WEAK.

How was that?

I personally think there are better options, and that includes the issue of candidate electablity.

secondly, if your goal is to get a chorus of people to promote Bayh or defend why they are supporting Bayh for '08- then, you are in the wrong place.

this is like me going into a DLC or a centrist democrat blog and asking people why they are supporting Howard Dean for President.

you are preaching to the choir here. many of the responses you will here will be " amen "!

you seem to have this notion that the way to strenghten our party is to discourage or stop
democrats who have different views than yours from entering the primary.

we are not the GOP. HRC, Bayh, or Mark Warner are all still 100X better than a Bill Frist, Jeb Bush or Haley Barbour.

you should instead work hard and focus on positively promoting who ever you are backing for president as opposed to attacking, and discouraging other Democratic candidates who want to run for president.

there is alot work to do. as some here have pointed out, the last 4 democratic presidential primaries winners were all moderate democrats in Bill Clinton twice '92,,96 Al Gore,'00 and John Kerry.'04

do not use this blog alone or the kossacks as your pulse of support.

Looking at the last 4 democratic primaries alone should tell you that you may think that we have a homerun here in this board or in the kossack board with a liberal candidate for president.
byt reading this blogs, you may have this false assumption that majority of democratic voters out there automatically share your views.

remember, the last 4 primaries alone show you that majority  of registered democratic voters across the country have always leaned toward centrist democrats.

as someone here also pointed out several days ago is that you do not have to look far. During last year's democratic primary, the top three finishers were all moderate democrats in Kerry, Edwards, and Clark.

this despite Liberals having a united, energized, and strong funding campaign behind Dr. Dean, it was not enough. While moderate dems were split behind the Kerry, Edwards, and Clark.

work hard and explain to democratic brothers and sisters why they should vote for your candidate
& why it is good for america as opposed to attacking Hillary Clinton or Evan Bayh.

as mentioned here earlier this week , the only two successful democrats who had who won the presidency in the last 3 decades are both conservative/moderates in Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

in contrast, the worst democratic presidential defeats in the last 3 decades have been Liberal democratic candidates in McGovern, Mondale, and Dukakis.

this is exactly what the primary is all about. let the best democrat win based on votes from all democrats. not this faction or that faction.

btw- I am not supporting Bayh nor HRC. But I don't think you win any converts by attacking fellow democrats in order to promote another escpecially at this very early stage. the primaries will take care of the mudslinging.

With signs showing that Gore won't run, and John Edwards electing to run for Governor instead(smart move John ! ), I think those three above will emerge as the heavy favorites. I think  John Kerry and General Wesley Clark, Richardson will also jump in.

If Kerry could not beat Bush last year with a united Democratic Party & 100 million to spend , I don't see him getting a second chance among Dem voters. While Clark will probably do a better jobs as a candidate than 2004, ( I supported Clark in 2004) I think rank and file dems will want a new face. ( Unless of course National Security again becomes # 1 hot issue )

As for Richardson, he may get a large chunk of Latino voters but I personally think he lacks the appeal to gain converts. He also has a lot of baggage from the Los Alamos scandal.

In think Russ, Evan, & Hillary will be  heavyweights simply because:

1) Sen. Hillary - because she happens to be Mrs. Hillary Clinton. Name Recognition plus a instant base of support from the Billary Loyalist will be a huge advantage. Not to mention the tremendous Fund Raising capability and of course, the expected surge of support among women voters within the party. ( the excitement of having a woman who actually has a realistic chance of being president will sway some women to join the movement)

By all indications she will run. If I were her, as a Professional Politician, I would too. This may be her one and only, not to mention best chance at being the nominee. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity that most politicians never get to have.

She will get some support from the Moderate wing (DLC) since she is a member herself & of course because of Bill Clinton-the hero of the DLC.

But I expect Evan Bayh to get majority of the DLC support as the Founder of the DLC.

Weakness: She is Hillary Clinton. Either you hate her or you love her. Plus, light resume and No Executive Experience in Public office.

However, at least for now-No Doubt, she is the heavyweight in this race.

2) Russ Feingold - he will be a powerhouse candidate because I predict that he will be the favorite of the Liberal/Progressive faction of our party. I already see majority of Deanics supporting him & he will have a strong fundraising thru the netroots & the grassroots.
His midwestern roots & his reputation as a straight shooter with integrity will be a big plus. TWO TERM SENATOR.

Weakness: Not exactly Mr. excitement. No Executive Branch exp. Time will tell if he being a Jew will help,hurt him or will be a Non-Factor.

3) Evan Bayh - he will be a powerful contender & having the base of support of majority of the centrist/moderate Dems & majority of the DLC wing. )within the party. The same faction who supported Kerry, Gore and Bill Clinton.

As leader & one of the Founders of the DLC, he will most likely get  the support of majority of Democratic Governors since over 65% of current 22 Democratic Governors are DLC members. This is huge since Governors have much stronger machinery for primary than your Senators in Congress.  

Also expect him to get the endorsement of majority of the DLC Senators whose members number about 40% of the current U.S. Democratic Senators

I also see him getting support from our more conservative Red State Dems such as the South & the Midwest.  Especially with the New Englander "Liberal" John Kerry disaster, many Dems who took a chance on Kerry in these conservative states will think twice.

It helps him that most of the Dem Senators & Governors in these Red states such two Senators of AR, two senators of ND,LA,FL,SD,NE,MT combined with 8 Red State Governors are all DLC members.

His major strength over Clinton & Feingold is his extensive experience in both the Executive and Legislative capacity. TWO TERMS as GOVERNOR, TWO TERMS as SENATOR for 16 years, in a Very Red State where he got more votes than George W. Bush last year despite Bush big win over Kerry in his state.

Weakness: he is not exactly Mr. Excitement. ( He's fortunate that he has Good looks which helps him with some voters)
His being in a Very Red State can either Hurt him or Help him ( Time will tell)
He will also lose a few of his DLC allies to Hillary Clinton who is also a DLC member & wife of Bill Clinton who is a hero among DLC members.

For now, Hillary is the heavy favorite. Assuming she does not faulter, I think the best way to beat her will be thru a one on one candidate who emerges early enough from the field & takes her mano a mano. I think Feingold or Bayh has a shot against her especially if it boils down to a Two person race.

We shall see! I do believe WE HAVE A VERY STRONG BENCH FOR 2008 !